Backward Glances — Driver celebrates DWI arrest with can of beer

See what was happening in Redwood Falls 50, 25, and 10 years ago this week.

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By Joshua Dixon, Staff Writer

Redwood Falls Gazette

By Joshua Dixon, Staff Writer

Posted Jan. 3, 2013 at 12:01 AM

By Joshua Dixon, Staff Writer

Posted Jan. 3, 2013 at 12:01 AM

1963—50 years ago

• Mary Elizabeth Halvorson, daughter of Rev. and Mrs. Rollen Halvorson of Belview, was the first baby born at the Redwood Falls hospital in 1963, born at 6;54 a.m. New Year’s Day.

• The police department’s new patrol car, a 1963 Studebaker Lark, was put into service.

• Joan Quale wrote a letter to the Gazette protesting a proposed amendment in the state legislature lowering the legal smoking age from 18 to 15.

• The Redwood TV Improvement Corp. announced it would shut down permanently if more people didn’t pay up to get better TV signals. Only 15 percent of tower users were making the $10 annual dues payments.

• The Carl Lussenhop family hosted a dinner for foreign exchange students in the region, attracting students from Southern Rhodesia, Holland, Belgium, Columbia, and Switzerland.

• Due to a scarcity of food in other places where they’re more predominant, the coyote population was increasing along the Minnesota River.

• Since retiring from the Merchant Marines, Leonard Dolezal has been using his maritime know-how restoring his old house, home to — among others — a three year old pet squirrel he raised from a baby.

• Starting with the 1988 home opener, the RFHS gymnastics team began competing in the National Guard armory instead of the high school gymnasium.

• The Wabasso city council finished a deal that would allow a new puzzle firm to settle in the city. Construction of the building was expected to begin soon.

2003—10 years ago

• Ward Cuff, a 1933 RFHS graduate, died at the age of 89. After breaking a variety of school athletic records at RFHS and Maquette University, Cuff went on to be a second-round pick for the New York Giants during the first-ever NFL draft.

• Allison Marie Roiger, daughter of John and Jennifer Roiger of rural Clements, was the first baby born at the Redwood Area Hospital in 2003, born at 9:45 a.m. on Jan. 2.

• The comedy act of Williams and Ree got its start at Donovan’s Conference Center in Redwood Falls in the mid 1970s.

When they returned to the area to headline the New Year’s show at Jackpot Junction, they joked many times about how the place they got their start was now a NAPA auto parts store.

• The county attorney charged a driver with the first felony-level Driving While Impaired in Redwood County. After failing the preliminary breath test, the driver drank a can of Michelob Golden Draft as he was being processed into custody.

• The Redwood Falls airport’s new terminal was running a little late, while construction crews waited for a crew to spray insulation on the inside of the hanger.